March 1960 lunar eclipse - Misplaced Pages

Total lunar eclipse March 13, 1960

March 1960 lunar eclipse

Total eclipse

The Moon's hourly motion shown right to left

Date

March 13, 1960

Gamma

−0.1799

Magnitude

1.5145

Saros cycle

122 (53 of 75)

Totality

93 minutes, 59 seconds

Partiality

219 minutes, 23 seconds

Penumbral

344 minutes, 47 seconds

Contacts (UTC)
P1	5:35:21
U1	6:38:08
U2	7:40:49
Greatest	8:27:48
U3	9:14:48
U4	10:17:30
P4	11:20:08

← September 1959 September 1960 →

A total lunar eclipse occurred at the Moon’s ascending node of orbit on Sunday, March 13, 1960, with an umbral magnitude of 1.5145. A lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon moves into the Earth's shadow, causing the Moon to be darkened. A total lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon's near side entirely passes into the Earth's umbral shadow. Unlike a solar eclipse, which can only be viewed from a relatively small area of the world, a lunar eclipse may be viewed from anywhere on the night side of Earth. A total lunar eclipse can last up to nearly two hours, while a total solar eclipse lasts only a few minutes at any given place, because the Moon's shadow is smaller. Occurring about 5.9 days before perigee (on March 19, 1960, at 7:10 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was larger.

This eclipse afforded astrophysicist Richard W. Shorthill the opportunity to make the first infrared pyrometric temperature scans of the lunar surface, and led to his discovery of the first lunar "hot spot" observed from Earth. Shorthill found that the temperature of the floor of the Tycho crater was 216° Kelvin (—57°C), significantly higher than the 160K (—113°C) in the area around the crater.

Visibility

The eclipse was completely visible over North America and the central and eastern Pacific Ocean, seen rising over east and northeast Asia and Australia and setting over South America, western Europe, and west Africa.

Eclipse details

Shown below is a table displaying details about this particular solar eclipse. It describes various parameters pertaining to this eclipse.

March 13, 1960 Lunar Eclipse Parameters
Parameter	Value
Penumbral Magnitude	2.54151
Umbral Magnitude	1.51449
Gamma	−0.17990
Sun Right Ascension	23h33m28.3s
Sun Declination	-02°52'01.0"
Sun Semi-Diameter	16'05.3"
Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax	08.8"
Moon Right Ascension	11h33m15.8s
Moon Declination	+02°42'09.5"
Moon Semi-Diameter	15'39.9"
Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax	0°57'29.4"
ΔT	33.3 s

Eclipse season

Related eclipses

Lunar eclipses of 1958–1962

Lunar eclipse series sets from 1958–1962
Ascending node				Descending node
Saros	Date Viewing	Type Chart	Gamma	Saros	Date Viewing	Type Chart	Gamma
102	1958 Apr 04	Penumbral	-1.53805
112	1959 Mar 24	Partial	-0.87571	117	1959 Sep 17	Penumbral	1.02963
122	1960 Mar 13	Total	-0.17990	127	1960 Sep 05	Total	0.24219
132	1961 Mar 02	Partial	0.55406	137	1961 Aug 26	Partial	-0.48947
142	1962 Feb 19	Penumbral	1.25115	147	1962 Aug 15	Penumbral	-1.22104

Last set	1958 May 03			Last set	1958 Oct 27

Next set	1963 Jan 09			Next set	1962 Jul 17

Saros 122

It was part of Saros series 122.

Half-Saros cycle

A lunar eclipse will be preceded and followed by solar eclipses by 9 years and 5.5 days (a half saros). This lunar eclipse is related to two total solar eclipses of Solar Saros 129.

March 7, 1951	March 18, 1969

Notes

"March 12–13, 1960 Total Lunar Eclipse (Blood Moon)". timeanddate. Retrieved 29 December 2024.
"Moon Distances for London, United Kingdom, England". timeanddate. Retrieved 29 December 2024.
F. Link, Eclipse Phenomena in Astronomy (Springer, 2012) p119
"Total Lunar Eclipse of 1960 Mar 13" (PDF). NASA. Retrieved 29 December 2024.
"Total Lunar Eclipse of 1960 Mar 13". EclipseWise.com. Retrieved 29 December 2024.
Mathematical Astronomy Morsels, Jean Meeus, p.110, Chapter 18, The half-saros